After racing well all season but being seemingly short on luck, Daryn Pittman finally broke his chain of close misses by becoming the king of the Eldora Speedway in Ohio at the 25th Annual Kings Royal. The victory marks his first win of the campaign and it seems that a little luck and a fast car combined with some skillful driving was all it took to take Pittman over the finish line first.

It wasn’t a clean cut victory from the start. Pittman managed to pull into second place in the first half of the race and finally slipped past Joey Saldana on the 28th lap to claim the lead. Saldana could give little opposition to the move after a flat tire caused him to make contact with the back straightway and brought him to a screeching halt. This meant that Pittman was first in the restart and he used his slight advantage to the best of his abilities, holding off Jason Meyers as the two sped through heavy traffic on the last lap. In the end he sprinted over the finish line in first place and was able to pick up his first Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series victory for the season.

However Pittman is no stranger to Eldora Speedway. This was the third time in his career that he crossed the line in first place at Eldora. As part of the traditional winning ceremony, Pittman was given a purple robe, scepter and crown and then seated on the king’s throne surrounded by the Kings Court. However, it was likely the $50 000 in prize money that really got his attention. Pittman was the 14th person to win the Kings Royal and the victory marks his 26th World of Outlaws win, putting him at 15th on the all-time list.

An overjoyed Pittman described his victory as â€˜unbelievable’ and counted it as an honor to have his name mentioned in connection with legendary greats like Doug Wolfgan, Sammy Swindell and Jac Haudenschild. Still, he wouldn’t take all the credit for his victory and he gallantly credited his Titan Racing USA team for their diligent hard work and effort this season.